With the hopes of the nation on his shoulders, 18-year-old Thaddius Katua stepped into the ring to compete in his maiden appearance at an Olympic Games.
The Pacific Games and Youth Commonwealth Games gold medallist was up against Russian Adlan Abdurashidov in what was set to be a thriller.
Katua came out all guns blazing, as he kept his opponent on the back foot with his lightning fast jabs.
With the Russian ducking and weaving to avoid Katua’s punches, he managed to sneak through body shots to get through the round scoring higher than Katua three tens to three nines from the judges.
The second round again saw Katua come out firing, this time with the crowd right behind him egging him on with every jab and hook.
His Russian opponent tried to use the ring to get away from Katua but the Papua New Guinean kept going after him; however, in the processes Abdurashidov managed to land points on Katua.
In a disappointing finish Katua went down fighting 30-27.
The crowd were vocal in their disbelief of the decision by the judges, when the Russian was announced winner.
